The transport ministry came in for stinging criticism by the chair of parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa), Mkhuleko Hlengwa, on Friday for its failure to appoint a new board of directors for the Road Accident Fund (RAF).
The term of office of the existing board expired earlier in 2023 and neither its term has been extended nor a replacement board appointed. It is therefore operating illegally, according to Hlengwa. MPs called for the board to be dismissed.
“You must appoint a board consistent with the legislation,” Hlengwa told deputy transport minister Lisa Mangcu who was present at the meeting. “It is not optional.”
The RAF, which is funded by a levy on fuel sales and which compensates road accident victims, is technically insolvent. It received a disclaimer from the auditor-general last year for its 2021/22 financial statements after it adopted new accounting methods that the auditor-general said materially misstated its financial position.
Hlengwa’s criticism came at the end of an on-site visit by Scopa members to the RAF’s Menlyn, Pretoria, claims office, the chaos of which astonished MPs from across the political spectrum. The office handles claims from Limpopo, Mpumalanga, the North West and Pretoria in Gauteng and has been the subject of numerous complaints.
The visit got off to a bad start when security guards tried to prevent the entry into the building of the Scopa team who were not met by any members of management. Security guards also told members of staff that they should not talk to MPs.
Hlengwa pointed out at a Scopa meeting held after the visit that preventing parliament from doing its job was a violation of the constitution.
DA Scopa member Alf Lees said the situation in the office was chaotic. “I don’t think I have ever seen anything as badly run as that place,” he said, adding that the failure to deal with claims had resulted in large numbers of default judgments against the RAF that involved high legal costs. The RAF’s administration was poor and needed a fundamental culture change, he said.
Boxes of claims by road accident victims were piled up in offices, in the corridors and in the basement parking lot, and because the office furniture had been attached by the sheriff staff were sitting on boxes and sharing improvised desks made of panels.
ANC MP Sakhumzi Somyo said such a “toxic” environment badly affected staff morale and called on senior management to do something about it.
It was no wonder, Lees said, that claimants waited sometimes for years to have their claims settled and often only got paid as a result of default court judgments.
DA member Benedicta van Minnen also said what Scopa saw at the office was a “truly chaotic situation”. The working conditions, she noted were appalling.
“How people process a claim completely escapes me. You cannot find documents and files and work efficiently in the system that we are seeing,” she said. The board and the CEO had to be held responsible for the moribund system, Van Minnen added.
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